Kwankwaso should reconsider some decisions

Kwankwaso should reconsider some decisions, Daily Trust Editorial of June 24, 2011

Understandably, Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso’s successful bid to return to Kano Government House after his failed attempt eight years ago would spur him with renewed energy to seek to regain lost ground in Nigeria’s most populous state. But that zeal to excel should not be channelled towards only undoing what his predecessor did or in embarking on untenable projects.

The new governor has been making news recently, some of it on subjects that give rise to concern. First there was the issue of revocation of 1,000 land plots allocated to prominent Nigerians, in the twilight of the Ibrahim Shekarau administration, at the Kofar Na’isa area of the state capital. The demolition of structures already erected by some beneficiaries reportedly commenced even before they got the revocation order.

As governor, Dr Kwamkwaso has the constitutional powers to revoke any land allocation, provided due process is followed. It may also be acting with his right as chief executive when he declared that he was putting the plots to better use by confiscating them in order to build a hospital, a football pitch as well as reallocating the remaining to the less-privileged. But wouldn’t it have been better to undertake this revocation exercise in an orderly manner, and in accordance with due process? Surely people will understand this better than such a hasty, even draconian approach?

The second issue concerns the case of the governor’s reported plan to convert Ado Bayero House, the uncompleted 11-storey Kano State Investment and Properties (KSIP) headquarters to a secondary school. How can this work in a town beset by as much electricity shortage as other parts of the country? A multi-storey edifice like that is put to its maximum benefit only if it has elevators working every minute of the day. It will be very tasking for children seeking education to have to be climbing the several flights of stairs many times a day, just to make it to their classrooms and out.

Additionally, the very location of the building itself makes it totally unsuitable for educational pursuits. Located at the doorstep to the crowded Kofar Nassarawa city gate, it is also next door to the very busy Gidan Murtala roundabout. An incredibly noisy and crowded area like that can therefore not be conducive for teaching and learning. A well-thought out attempt to provide more secondary schools will include the choice of a good and suitable location. Needless to say, Kano has no shortage of such places. If the KSIP no longer has use for its long-in-the-making office complex, the new administration can make it a functioning government secretariat by moving some of its parastatals into it.

While education deserves real priority in Kano State, as in most other parts of the country, a special education task force, or even the state’s regular education ministry, can be charged with identifying and recommending ideal locations for the construction of new secondary schools. And in so doing, the task force must also take stock of the existing dilapidated structures that pass for primary and secondary schools, and look into ways of rehabilitating them. The key thing now is for the Kwankwaso government to come up with a blueprint for revamping the erstwhile vibrant Kano education sector. Any hasty, short-cut way of doing things may be counterproductive.

The tendency to quickly undo what predecessors have done is gaining momentum in some other states, particularly where a different party used to hold sway. This should not be the case at all, let alone be the norm. Every governor comes into office with a vision outlined during electioneering. In Kwankwaso’s case, now that he has got it, he should channel his energies towards realising his vision. He must eschew policies that veer towards vengeance in governance. This is because some policy reversals do not make sense. If predecessors have left programmes worth pursuing, there is no reason why the new government should not acknowledge and continue it. Discontinuity affects development efforts negatively.

Governor Kwankwaso can imbibe this spirit by going about the revocation of the Kofar Na’isa plots the right way, as well as by compensating all those who already had started work on their lands for the losses they may have suffered in the demolition. He should work towards peace and reconciliation in the state, as only that can provide the stability needed to develop the state in accordance with his vision